Final Reality
by Scorpion
Summary: The kids are flung into a deadly new world (which may be familiar to FF7 fans!)
1. Default Chapter Title

****

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, someone else does (I'm not sure who!). All others belong to Squaresoft Inc. This is my first Digi-fic and the most difficult crossover I've attempted yet, so please forgive me if I screw up. This takes place just after Myotismon's death and the return to Digi-World. Please review!!

Digimon: Final Reality

1: Digidestined defeated

****

Remnants of Myotismon's castle: Digi-World

Myotismon was dead and his castle was in ruins but a new evil 'tenant' had moved in on a scavenger hunt. His name was Necromon. He had been a Dark Master but now, thanks to Piedmon, he was a renegade. He looked very similar to Devimon in appearance except he was red instead of black and he had spikes protruding from his shoulders and legs as well as wings and skulls on his back. He was also a Mega level Digimon. But for all his power, Necromon knew that he now faced a very big problem: the Digidestined. He cast his mind over his predecessors' efforts: Devimon had nearly killed them all but had been destroyed, which had been a surprise. The defeat of Etemon had been less shocking; the bumbling ape hadn't even come close to beating them. Then came the biggest shock of all: Myotismon's defeat.

All of this led Necromon to an inescapable conclusion: a new approach was needed. Against the Digidestined, it seemed even the very best were not good enough. Direct confrontation wasn't an option without an ace in the hole, which was what he was looking for now around the crumbling ruins. Still, despite the havoc the Dark Masters had wreaked on the Digi-World the dimension gate still remained. 

"Arachnomon, have you found them yet?" 

Another Digimon, a large spider-like Ultimate Digimon with crab claws, scuttled forward. "I'm afraid not, Lord Necromon. This castle was huge! He could have hidden them anywhere and there's a lot of rubble to search through!"

"I don't care what size this castle was!" Necromon snapped. "If we don't find them, my plan is useless!"

As Arachnomon scuttled away to continue searching, Necromon went down to where the dimension gate still stood. Somehow it had survived the castle's destruction. If all went well, he would soon need it. 

"Master! I think I've found them!" Arachnomon scuttled back.

Necromon followed his spider henchman to a spot near the dimension gate. Necromon saw it at once; there was a concealed panel in the floor near the gate. He quickly ripped it open and as he saw the 9 cards inside, an unpleasant sneer spread across his face.

"Perfect!"

"What good are those, Master?" Arachnomon asked.

"All will be revealed in good time," Necromon said. "Prepare yourself for battle. We have some pests to squash!" 

"Are the 2 of us enough to defeat them, Master? We know what happened to VenomMyotismon!"

"If we act carefully, we will be more than a match for them. Our former friends have just done us a service by exhausting them. And here's what we're going to do…"

****

A beach on what was File Island

"But everyone's ok, right?" Tai was asking. "Besides being hungry and cold and lost…"

"Don't forget frightened, tired and upset about Piximon," Sora put in.

"Other than that, we're fine!" Matt muttered sarcastically.

It hadn't been a good day for the Digidestined. Since they'd got back to the Digi-World they'd been utterly trounced by Piedmon and his Dark Masters and the Digi-World had deteriorated still further since they'd left to fight Myotismon.

"I have a feeling we've been here before," Izzy broke in. "Wait a minute! Look! Those smashed up phone booths!"  
"You don't think they could be the same ones, do you?" Sora couldn't believe it.

Tai realised at once. "Of course! I can't believe it! All this time we thought were making progress but we've just been going in one big circle!"  
"Then allow me to end that circle for you!" Everyone whirled round to see Necromon descending from the skies. He stopped a few feet away and hovered over them. "It's hard to imagine how weaklings like you could prove so annoying!"

Izzy quickly brought out his laptop and accessed the Digimon file. He paled when he saw Necromon's stats.

"That's Necromon! He's another Mega Virus Digimon!"

"Another Dark Master?" Tai shuddered.

"I was," Necromon growled. "Until that impudent funster Piedmon expelled me. But now I'm in a position to rectify that! Once I defeat you, the other Dark Masters will be forced to respect me and fear me!"

"Not happening!" Matt snarled.

"Yeah! We've beaten worse than you!" Tai added.

"Have you really? All I've seen of late is you losing to my Dark friends and that's exhausted you. If you couldn't beat Piedmon, what do you plan to do against the likes of me?!"

"Can we shut this big mouth up?" Matt asked.

Tai was all for that. "Gladly. Agumon?"

~Agumon warp Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!~

~Gabumon warp Digivolve to…METALGARURUMON!~

"What do you say now, Necromon?" Matt challenged.

Necromon merely sneered. "I say…you lose! NECRO CRUSHER!"  
The kids watched in horror as Necromon unleashed a massive red fireball catching both Digimon head on, draining their energy and forcing them back to their Rookie forms.

Necromon chuckled evilly as he looked down at them. "Anyone else want to take a shot?"

All the other Digimon quickly digivolved into their Champion forms but, as before, they were no match for a Mega Digimon at full power.

"Pathetic!" Necromon snorted as he smashed Ikkakumon and Togemon to the floor, knocking them both out of the fight. None of their attacks seemed to faze him. If anything they just made him stronger.

"Is it just me or is he getting more powerful each time they hit him?" Joe screamed.

"It seems that's the case!" Izzy replied gloomily. "Even if they go to Ultimate they're still outmatched!"

The inevitable result soon came and the exhausted Digimon were all forced back to Rookie level.

"Sorry Joe," Gomamon whimpered. "He's just too strong!"

"That's right and I'm about to get stronger still! Arachnomon!"

With that, the hideous spider Digimon leapt into the fray. "TANGLER NET!"

Instantly all of the kids and their Digimon were covered in a massive net of sticky cobweb.

"Ewww…gross! I hate spiders!" Mimi wailed.

"That was easier than I thought!" Necromon gloated. "And I thought you would be more of a challenge."  
"Let us out of here, you bag of hot wind!" Tai raged.

"If you ask me, it's you Digidestined that's the hot wind! I was hoping for more of a fight than this. If I'd let you recover a little more perhaps it would have been more of a match. A pity we will never know, eh? SOUL DRAIN!"

Red light beams fired out from Necromon and wrapped around each Digimon and Digidestined. All screamed in agony as Necromon drained energy from all of them at once. After a while Necromon released them and they dropped unconscious.

Arachnomon was baffled. "Master, why don't you just finish them and be done with it here?"

"Because that would be too quick!" Necromon said. "I know I could stretch their deaths out for hours but it still wouldn't be long enough! For what they've done I want something that'll last a lifetime and I think I know how to do it. Let's gather them up. We must move them to the gate."

"At once," Arachnomon moved to help Necromon. Timing was of the essence. Unlike his master, Arachnomon did not relish the idea of another fight.

****

The dimension gate: 2 hours later

"Tai…Tai…can you hear me?" 

"Uhh…yeah, I'm ok," Tai opened his eyes and saw that he was tied down to a concrete slab with spider web with Agumon next to him. He looked around to find the others all in the same situation.

"Is everyone ok?" 

Necromon emerged from the shadows. "Don't worry. They're all here and they're all still alive. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out!"

"Out of what?" Tai didn't like the sound of this.

"Out of the reward for your failure. You should recognise this place. You've been here before after all."

Izzy recognised it as soon as he saw it. "The dimension gate! But the castle…"  
"…Fell apart? Yes, it did. But the gate still exists and fortunately so do these."

Necromon pulled out the cards and started to place them in the compartments on the gate controller.

Izzy's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "What? But Gennai has…"

"Merely one set," Necromon calmly explained. "Myotismon kept another in case something went wrong for him here. It may not have done him much good but it has ensured my victory! With you stranded in another realm and out of my way I will be ruler of this world and yours! Arachnomon!"

The spider Digimon scuttled over and attached more web lines to Matt, Izzy, Gabumon and Tentomon. Necromon grabbed Tai and Agumon as the gate opened up.

"TK!" Matt screamed in despair.

"Touching!" Necromon chuckled. "But don't worry. You're all going to the same world. You'll find each other, assuming you manage to live long enough! Have a nice trip! HA HA HA!"

With that, they were flung through the portal. Joe, Mimi and their Digimon followed them with Sora, Kari and TK last. Necromon then closed the portal.

"Well, that's that." 

"Where did you send them, master?"  
"To another realm that's much like their own."

Arachnomon was confused. "But how is that punishing them? And what's to stop them from coming back?"

"That world is like their own but it's certainly not as peaceful!" Necromon chuckled. "It was almost destroyed in a near-cataclysm recently and, if my predictions are accurate, it's about to face another one. Even if they survive all that they will not return anytime soon, if at all. That world is not directly connected to our world like theirs is. Unless someone over there has discovered how to create a dimension gate like this one they are stranded forever!"

"Then the future is assured, Master?" Arachnomon smiled.

"Ours is, at least," Necromon grinned. "Come, we have some loose ends to tie up before we take control of this world, namely Gennai and Piedmon!"

****

Another world…

Sora, TK, Kari and their Digimon landed in a heap on a wide grassy plain.

"What's so bad about this place? This looks like your world, Sora!" Biyomon said.

"I don't know," Sora replied. "It's probably not our world though. Necromon wouldn't have sent us home. We'd be able to get back to the Digital World from there."

"Where's Tai?" Kari asked, looking round in alarm.

"Matt's not here either!" TK broke in.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're alright," Patamon tried to reassure them.

"He's right," Sora added. "They can look after themselves. Let's just try and find out where we are."

"Why don't we ask whoever lives there?" Gatomon suggested pointing with her claw.

A small town lay in the distance. It didn't look much different from any other small settlement except for one thing: it had a rocket launch pad right next to it.

Sora didn't know what to think. It didn't look dangerous, but she was certain that Necromon wouldn't have sent them here if it were completely safe. Still, Gatomon was right, it was worth checking out.

****

Elsewhere…

Tai, Matt, Izzy and their digimon weren't having so much luck. They'd come out of the portal onto a frozen wasteland in the middle of a snowstorm! Fortunately they'd landed near a cave and soon they were all huddled inside trying to keep warm. Agumon quickly used his Pepper Breath to light a fire in the cave.

"Tai, I've got to go look for TK!" Matt was going crazy with worry.

Tai sighed and checked his digivice and got no reading at all. That meant they were miles, if not hundreds of miles away or the storm was jamming it. "He's not anywhere nearby, Matt, and what could we do if he was? It's freezing cold and we don't know where we are!" 

Izzy, as usual, was checking his laptop. He wasn't getting much information though. "Bummer! The only thing I can say for certain is that we're not in the digital world anymore. We're probably not on our world either."

"I don't care where we are as long as we can go somewhere warmer!" Agumon complained.

"Good idea!" Tentomon added.

With nothing else to do, they huddled by the fire to wait until the storm passed. As Matt moved to join them he noticed a green glow from the back of the cave. As he looked closer he noticed that it was some kind of crystal. It continued to glow bright green even when he picked it up. He quickly slipped it into his pocket and went back to join the others.

****

'Rocket' Town

As Sora and her group got closer, they could see that the town wasn't uninhabited.

"Hey, there's people there!" TK couldn't believe it.

"Could this actually be our world?" Kari asked.

"Maybe," Sora replied. She still didn't believe it was though. She turned to the digimon. "You'd best pretend to be stuffed animals again. We don't know what the people are like here."  
"No problem," Biyomon said as she flew into Sora's arms.

"Let's go check out that rocket!" TK started running toward it after picking up Patamon.

They could see several engineers in orange and blue uniforms working on the rocket and its support gantries as they got closer. Sora couldn't understand this. Why build a rocket next to what was little more than a small village?

"Can I help you?" They turned to see a woman in a lab coat standing behind them. "I don't believe I've seen you around here before."

"Uh, no, we're kind of lost," Sora said weakly.

"Lost?" The woman couldn't believe it. "You must be extremely lost to get here. There's nothing around here for miles! Are you from Nibelheim or somewhere near there?"

Sora couldn't think of much else to say. She didn't know how to explain where they'd come from. "Uh, well, we…"

"It doesn't matter. We'll go see the Captain and arrange to get you back. Follow me." She started walking toward the rocket. "Oh, I'm Shera by the way and you are…?"

"Sora. This is TK and Kari."

"Pleased to meet you," Shera said. She pointed at their digimon. "Leave your toys down there. The rocket isn't exactly a place for them."

They climbed the stairs to the gantry and then walked to the rocket's entrance. A lot of hammering could be heard from just inside.

"Captain!" Shera called.

"Not now, Shera. Can't you see I'm @$%^&* busy with this $%&^! thing!"

Sora and Shera quickly covered TK and Kari's ears in a vain attempt to keep them from hearing the Captain's obscenities.

"Cid, this is kind of an emergency," Shera said.

"Alright, I'm coming out!" 

A silver-haired man wearing a flight jacket and smoking a large cigar came out of the rocket.

"What's wrong now Shera? I've got to get this thing fixed!"  
"It's these kids, Cid. They wandered through the mountains and they got lost."

"Oh great," Cid muttered. "A babysitting job. We're going to be stuck with them for awhile, Shera. Reeve's using the Highwind II, the Tiny Bronco's still under repair and I'm certainly not going through Mount Nibel without some back-up!"

Shera nodded. She'd expected as much. "I'll tell the inn to expect some visitors."

Cid looked at Sora with an amazed expression. "Tell me something uh, what was the name?"

"Sora."

"Ok, Sora. How did you 3 kids manage to get through Mount Nibel with no escort and no weapons? That area's full of monsters!"

Sora, TK and Kari all exchanged worried glances. _Monsters?_

"It's kind of hard to explain…" Sora started to say.

"Ah, doesn't matter," Cid broke in. "Let's go back to the house and you can tell me there. Oh, I almost forgot. I'm Cid, most people call me Captain though."

With that, Cid led them off the gantry and down the stairs. Unfortunately, Cid didn't notice the 'stuffed toys' at the bottom of the stairs and ended up stepping on Gatomon's foot!

"What the %$£!" Cid jumped backward as he found himself facing a furious Gatomon.

"That hurt!" the cat digimon snorted. "LIGHTNING CL…"

"No, Gatomon!" Kari ran down the stairs quickly.

"Uh-oh!" Sora wasn't pleased at this turn of events.

"A talking monster!?" Cid couldn't believe it.

"They're not monsters!" TK said, scooping up Patamon as he did so.

"Well, not exactly anyway," Sora added.

Cid considered this and then looked around. "We'd best go to my house and talk there. We're drawing flies!"

The kids looked round and saw that they were drawing a crowd that was gaping in shock at the digimon.

Cid managed to get everyone into his house and bolt the door behind him.

"Ok. Just give me the whole story. What are they? A Shinra Mako experiment gone wrong?"

Sora, Kari and TK gave him the whole story of the Digidestined and how they'd ended up here. Cid's head felt like it was going to split open once she'd finished.

Shera wasn't doing much better. "You'd better talk to Reeve about this."

"Good idea," Cid muttered as he walked over to the new video link that he'd just had installed and switched it on. A bearded man in a blue suit appeared on the screen.

"Reeve? I've got a situation here. I've just had 3 kids with talking Mon… creatures drop in on me!"

"What, you too?" Reeve replied, shocked.

"What do you mean 'me too'?" Cid asked.

"I've got two here myself. Dropped right out of some kind of portal into my office while I was in a meeting! Their names are Joe and Mimi. The creatures are Gomamon and Palmon apparently." 

"Can we go meet up with them?" Sora asked.

"I'll need some transport," Cid said.

"I'll send the Turks with a Gelnika airplane to pick you up. I'll see you in Junon soon."

"Christ! What a $%£^ day!" Cid muttered.

"Is he always like that?" Sora asked as Cid walked away.

"All the time," Shera said.

****

Ice Glacier

"TK!" Matt was calling out again and again over the ice wastes but there was no answer.

"I wish we could find the others!" Tai said to Izzy. "He's been driving me crazy since we left the cave!"

"Sorry Tai," Izzy apologised. "But I still don't know where we are. I can only surmise that we're in the polar region of wherever we've been sent and that probably means we're miles from anywhere and anyone!"

"We should find shelter," Gabumon warned. "I think another storm is coming!"

Unfortunately he wasn't wrong. The winds had picked up again and soon they were in the middle of another raging snowstorm.

"Everyone stick together!" Tai screamed.

"It's too late, Tai! Matt and Gabumon are gone!" Izzy shouted back.

Tai looked around in panic. "Oh man! We'll never find him in this storm!" 

"We've got to find shelter or we'll freeze, Tai!" Izzy warned.

Matt and Gabumon were just on the edge of a group of firtrees nearby. They hadn't actually gone very far from the others but the storm prevented them from seeing or hearing them. 

"Tai gets us lost again and then he loses himself and Izzy too! Typical!" Matt snorted.

Oddly enough, Gabumon did not reply.

Matt frowned as he turned to his digimon. "Gabumon? Are you…"

Matt gaped in horror as he saw his friend face down in the snow. Standing over him was a powerfully built man. He was white-haired, dressed in black with white shoulder pads and he held a Japanese katana style sword that was almost as big as he was. But it was his eyes that really scared Matt. They glowed bright green with malevolence. That was all Matt had time to take in before the stranger raised his sword and brought the hilt down on Matt's head. Matt saw stars and then nothing.

By the time Tai and the others found their way through the snow, Matt, his digimon and his assailant had all vanished into thin air…

TO BE CONTINUED… 


	2. Default Chapter Title

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Digimon: Final Reality

2: Dark Friendship

****

Ice Glacier

Tai, Izzy, Agumon and Tentomon were having no luck in finding Matt or any of the others. The cold and biting wind was now starting to affect them badly. 

Izzy was suffering the most. "Tai, I don't…think I can…"

Tai looked round in shock as Izzy passed out and fell into the snow. Agumon, being more sensitive to the cold than most digimon, soon followed.

"Oh man! What do we do now?" Tai asked Tentomon in despair. He got no answer as Tentomon was lying in the snow too.

With his friends immobilised Tai had no idea what to do. He huddled close to his friends, trying to keep them and himself warm. He had time to cry out for help one last time before he passed out.

****

A cabin to the north

Tifa Lockheart stood at the cabin entrance waiting for her childhood friend, Cloud, to return. After the defeat of Sephiroth she had insisted on staying with him. Now that Sephiroth was gone, she had been worried that Cloud might not feel that there was much reason to go on living. She had been surprised when he'd offered little resistance to her proposal to stay with him. They had been living in Mr Holzoff's cabin on the edge of the Great Glacier for the best part of a year now as Cloud had wanted to get away from the world for awhile, at least until their 'fame' had died away. Tifa had shared that sentiment, but hadn't been too enthralled about Cloud's choice at first. Still, she promised to stay with him and she'd gotten used to it.

"Is he still out there?" Holzoff asked as he was making dinner.

Tifa nodded. "And he wonders why I worry about him!"

Holzoff chuckled. "He's been living here long enough to know what to expect. He'll be back soon." Holzoff had lived alone on the ice for 20 years, providing shelter and help to anyone who ended up on the glacier. He had been resistant to the idea of Cloud and Tifa moving in at first but now he was glad of the company. 

"Can someone give me a hand out here?" a voice called from outside the cabin.

"Cloud?" Tifa ran to the door and pulled it open to find Cloud outside. He was carrying two kids, or rather two frozen kids, over his shoulders.

Holzoff, seeing this, wasted no time. "Get them inside quickly!"

Cloud quickly hauled them inside and took them to the back room of the cabin as Holzoff brought some blankets out. 

"Where did you find them?" Tifa asked in amazement.

"On the southern edge of the glacier's snowfield," Cloud replied in disbelief. "Don't ask me how they got there. I'm clueless!"

"Ok. But what's with the stuffed toys?" 

Cloud shrugged. "They were clutching onto them when I found them in the snow so I brought them back with me. They're kind of heavy for toys, though."  
"Hey! Who're you calling a toy?!" Both of them spun round to see Agumon getting up off the floor. Cloud had placed him near the fire so he had recovered quickly. "I'm a digimon, not a toy! The name's Agumon!"

"A…talking monster?" Tifa couldn't believe it.

"That explains their weight," Cloud said dryly. He kept one hand on his Ultima blade as he looked at Agumon, who was looking around in panic.

"Where's Tai?" Agumon asked in worry.

"If you mean one of those kids, they're both in the next room warming up," Cloud told him. "They should be all right. Just what are you and how did you end up on the Great Glacier?" 

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Agumon replied.

"Time is one thing we have plenty of," Cloud said. "Why don't you tell us?"

Agumon nodded warily and started to fill them in.

****

Rocket Town

"About ^&$%! time!" Cid muttered as the Gelnika plane touched down nearby. "What kept them?"

Sora winced. She wished he'd cut his obscenities with TK and Kari around, but she didn't feel brave enough to ask him.

Elena, the newest Turk, was waiting for them as they reached the plane.

"What kept you?" Cid asked impatiently.

"Sorry Cid. We had two other stops to make before we came for you," Elena said apologetically. "Why don't you get in? You probably want to catch up on old times."

"Old times? What's she talking about?" Cid muttered as he got into the plane.

"Keeping well, Cid?" 

"Red? Is that you?" Cid asked.

"It's me and I'm not alone." Red XIII, the red wolf creature from Cosmo Canyon and Yuffie Kisaragi, the annoying ninja from Wutai, were already in the plane waiting for them. Yuffie, as usual, looked a little green from the flight. 

"Is that another digimon?" TK asked, looking at Red curiously.

"I don't know what a digimon is," Red replied. "But I am what you see." 

"We're digimon," Patamon told him. "And please don't call us monsters like everyone else has!"

"I had no intention of doing so," Red said calmly.

"Pleased to meet all of ya! Even the uh…digimon things," Yuffie said slowly. "But I think I'll be waiting in the back again…ulp…urk…" With that she ran toward the back of the plane.

"Who was that?" Kari asked.

"That was Yuffie," Cid explained. "She's a ninja that doesn't like flying. Make sure you keep hold of anything valuable while she's around. She'll steal it given half a chance!"

"We'll be at Junon soon," Elena said. "Reeve wanted me to tell you that Barret and Vincent are already there."

"Something must really have hit the fan for Reeve to call nearly all of us back. What's going on?" Cid wondered.

"I don't know for certain," Elena told him. "I'll let Reeve explain when we get back."

****

Mr Holzoff's cabin

"Tai…Tai, wake up!" 

Tai groaned as he started to come round. "Uhh…where are we, Agumon?" Tai asked as he looked round the cabin. He'd been half expecting to wake up dead.

"Ah, you're awake," Cloud, Tifa and Holzoff walked in from the front room. "You're on the Great Glacier. You're lucky I found you. A few more minutes out there and you'd all have been popsicles," Cloud told him.

Tai gaped in shock. But then again, it wasn't every day that he saw a guy with a massive sword on his back, glowing blue eyes, muscles that bulged through his purple bodysuit and who looked like an older version of Matt.

"It's ok, Tai," Agumon said. "I've told them everything. They pulled us out of the snow."

"Uh, thanks a million!" Tai said. 

"No problem!" Cloud grinned. His face then went more serious. "I'm afraid I wasn't able to find your other friend though. I just hope he was able to find shelter somewhere!"

Tai winced. He hoped Matt and Gabumon were ok. He'd never forgive himself if they weren't!

"Welcome back, Izzy!" Tentomon said as Izzy began to come round.

"Where are we, Tentomon?" Izzy asked. 

Everyone quickly filled Izzy in. "I'd best go and call Reeve on the radio," Tifa decided. "He might know where your friends are."

"I'll go and look for the other one again," Cloud decided. However he had no sooner reached the front door before he gave up due to the sound of the massive blizzard outside. 

Cloud hoped that Matt had found shelter. _If he hasn't by now, he's dead!_

****

Junon

As soon as the Gelnika landed everyone was taken swiftly to a corridor outside Reeve's office (that is, as soon as Yuffie was done throwing up). As Elena had said, Barret Wallace, the AVALANCHE leader, and the mutant ex-Turk Vincent Valentine were already there waiting for them. 

"Long time no see, Cid," Barret said.

"Likewise, Barret. How's Corel?" 

"Still rebuilding. Certainly much better than it was, though, after what those Shinra jackasses did to it!" He looked at the kids and their digimon. "More of them? What the hell is this, weird week?"

Sora couldn't believe how much bigger and stronger everyone was in this world. Cid was certainly very strong for his age; Yuffie wasn't much older than she was but her physique suggested otherwise and as for Barret…

"Here we go again," Barret muttered as he saw them staring in awe at him and his gun-arm. "The other ones were just the same!"

"Then I suggest we go through now," Vincent said coolly, his face as unreadable as ever under the red ninja style suit he always wore. "Time is of the essence."

Not liking the sound of that, everyone followed him into the office where Reeve, Mimi, Joe, Palmon and Gomamon were all waiting.   
"Hey guys!" Joe was relieved to see Sora and the others walk in. 

"Hi Joe!" Sora, TK and Kari said together. 

"I'm glad you're all right," Mimi broke in.

"We are thanks to Cid!" TK blurted out.

"Cut it, kid! You're embarrassing me!" Cid muttered and glared at Barret and Yuffie, who were chuckling at his discomfort.

"You haven't seen Tai and the others?" Kari asked in concern.

"I'm afraid not," Joe said. "We were the only ones who came out here."

"Yeah, and scared the crap out of us doing it!" Barret glared at Gomamon as he said this who quickly hid behind Joe. Gomamon had landed on Barret's head when he came out of the portal.

"The others landed at the Great Glacier," Reeve said. "Tifa just radioed in and told me. She and Cloud stumbled across them there. I've sent the Gelnika out again to get them."

The kids breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cloud and Tifa?" Barret said in surprise. "You mean you knew they were up there all this time and you never told us?!" 

"They didn't want to be found," Reeve replied calmly. "I simply did what they asked of me. If you have a problem, take it up with them when they get here. In the meantime, we should try and figure out what we're going to do about our new friends' problem."

"I don't know that we can do anything," Red XIII said gloomily. "Even Grandpa didn't know anything about other dimensions."

"I don't remember seeing anything like a dimension gate either," Cid added.

"So, we could be stuck here for the rest of our lives?!" Mimi wailed.

"That's what Necromon wanted," Sora said angrily.

"We'll try and work out something once the others get here. There's always hope, isn't there?"  


****

Mr Holzoff's cabin

"Reeve's sending a plane for us," Tifa said. She turned to Izzy and Tai. "Good news. The rest of your team's safe. Reeve has them all in Junon now."

As Tai breathed a sigh of relief Cloud came back into the room. "The storm's eased off. I'm going out again for another look."

"Then we're going too!" Tai said firmly.

"I'm not sure that's wise," Holzoff put in. "You've only just recovered after all. Are you absolutely sure you're up to this?"

"Matt may be a jerk sometimes," Tai said. "But I've got to try and find him!"

Cloud knew he wasn't going to get out of this easily. Eventually he shrugged his shoulders. "If you're sure you're up to it, follow me."

"I'll see if I've got some spare coats for them," Holzoff said. "They'll need that much."

20 minutes later all of them walked out of the cabin. "Do you think you can recognise the place where you lost him?" Cloud asked.

"It was out on the snowfields somewhere. There were some trees nearby but I'm not sure," Tai said apologetically.

"Well, since I've got a map of the area now it should be a little easier," Izzy had entered the map into his laptop.  
"Then let's get going!" Tai didn't want to waste any time.

"Tai, wait for me!" Agumon ran after him quickly.

"He's nuts!" Tifa muttered.

"You noticed that, huh?" Izzy joked. "Let's go after him."

Half an hour later they'd reached the trees where Matt had gone missing but there was still no sign of him or Gabumon.

"No luck?" Cloud was baffled. It was as if Matt had vanished off the face of the planet. Cloud was glad they hadn't found a frozen body but to find nothing at all was a little unnerving.

Tai was getting frantic by this time. What the hell was he going to tell TK if they couldn't find him?

"Hello, Tai!" Tai whirled round to find Matt standing someway behind him grinning.

"Matt! Hey guys, I've found him!" Tai started walking towards Matt.

Matt nodded and Gabumon quickly ran out from behind him.

"BLUE BLASTER!"  
Tai managed to dive out of the way just in time as the others arrived.  
"Hey! Wha…Gabumon, have you flipped?!" Tai exclaimed. "Matt? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Tai!" Matt said darkly. "I'm just doing what I should have done a long time ago!"

~Gabumon warp Digivolve to…METALGARURUMON!~

"Matt! Have your brain cells been fried?!" Izzy couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nor could Tifa. 

Cloud, however, had a look of recognition and dread on his face. "SEPHIROTH! Show yourself, you coward!"

Sure enough, Sephiroth appeared in a blackening wave next to Matt. "Gladly, Cloud. It's been awhile, hasn't it? You're a hard man to find. I thought I had found you earlier when I stumbled across my new friend here," he pointed to Matt as he said this. "He's turned out to be quite a bonus!"

Tifa stared in shock and horror. "How?! We saw you go down!"

Sephiroth sneered. "The Lifestream found me somewhat indigestible!"

"Who's this?" Izzy asked.

"His name is Sephiroth and he's nothing but trouble. How did you know it was him?" Tifa asked Cloud.

"You know anyone else who can turn someone against his friends? I should know!" Cloud snarled, looking worriedly at Matt and MetalGarurumon. 

Tifa's anger started to come through. "How low can you get, Sephiroth? Using children to fight your battles?"

Sephiroth merely shrugged as he looked at Matt. "I simply gave him what he wanted: a chance for recognition. He's been the underdog for quite a while, so I understand. Matt, I believe you have a score to settle!"

Matt grinned unpleasantly and nodded at MetalGarurumon who leapt at Tai.

"ICE WOLF CLAW!"

"TAI!" Agumon screamed.

~Agumon warp digivolve to…WARGREYMON!~

Wargreymon finished digivolving just in time to block the ice blast, allowing Tai time to get clear.

Izzy turned to Tentomon. "You'd better back him up!"  
"I don't know that I can do much but I'll try!" Tentomon replied.

~Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!~

"You'd best get out of here!" Izzy shouted at Cloud and Tifa. "This could get ugly!"  
"The hell we will!" Cloud screamed, all fired up as he pulled the Ultima Weapon from his back. "Tifa, are you up for it?"  
"Am I ever!" Tifa clenched her fists. "It's time to rumble!"

With that, both of them ran at MetalGarurumon who had just knocked Wargreymon to the floor and was about to finish him off when Tifa slammed her fist into his jaw. He yelped in pain and surprise and lunged at Tifa but then Cloud slashed him from behind.

Tai, Izzy and their digimon were stunned.They'd never seen humans and digimon fight before. They'd never even thought it was possible! But it was certainly happening now and MetalGarurumon was taking most of the punishment. In desperation he tried to turn the tide.

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"  
Cloud was hit dead on by the every powerful ice blast. It seemed to hurt him but he was soon back on his feet.

"Fatal mistake!" Cloud snarled. "Tifa! Cook him!"  
Tifa nodded. "Right! FIRE 3!"

Tai and the others gaped as a green glow surrounded Tifa for a brief moment before she unleashed a massive fireball. MetalGarurumon howled in pain as he was consumed by fire.

Cloud then raised his sword and went into a berserker rage as he used his deadly Omnislash move, cutting MetalGarurumon over and over. After the last devastating cut MetalGarurumon slumped to the floor and reverted all the way back to Tsunomon. 

"Any more puppets for me, Sephiroth? Or are you ready to actually fight? I've improved since last time!"  
"So I see," Sephiroth replied. "We'll fight, but some other time! And when we do it will be personal. I will make it VERY personal!"

Before Cloud could stop him he teleported away with Matt and Tsunomon. 

"Damn it! I hate it when he does that!" Cloud snorted in disgust.

"Take it easy. We'll get him next time!" Tifa promised him.

"Wow! I've never seen anyone fight like that!" Tai said, picking up Koromon. "But what about Matt and Tsunomon?"  
Tifa and Cloud looked at each other grimly. "We can't do anything about them for now," Cloud said. "If I'm right, we'll be able to get them back soon. Those weren't your friends who tried to kill you just now. Sephiroth has warped them, brought out the worst in them. But I don't think it's permanent. Trust me, ok?"

Tai nodded slowly.

"How did he come back?" Tifa asked in amazement. "I saw him explode!"

"I have a theory about that but I'll tell you once we get to Junon," Cloud replied. "Come on! We've got to let the others know!"

****

An underground cavern

Sephiroth cursed mentally as he, Matt and Tsunomon arrived back at his hidden base. He knew his impatience had gotten the better of him and he had acted too soon. For the first time in his life, Sephiroth was afraid. Cloud was stronger than ever and this time he had no control over him. He hadn't since Cloud flung him out of his mind and dissipated him into red Lifestream energy a year ago. Now his options were looking very limited. The Black Materia was lost, buried under millions of tons of rubble at the crater. His Jenova powers had enabled him to get a new body and take control of Matt but without the main synthesis they were only a shadow of what they had once been. Cloud, his friends and the crater explosion had smashed the synthesis so badly that there probably wouldn't be another Jenova Reunion for centuries. He looked back at Matt and Tsunomon. His control over them was very tenuous. Another battle like that and he knew they could break free.

As Sephiroth wondered what to do next he noticed a green glow from Matt's back pocket. He quickly came over, reached in and pulled out the crystal. An unpleasant smile came over his face.

"Where did you get this?" 

"I found it in a cave on the glacier," Matt answered slowly. "Is it important?"  
"More than you know!" Sephiroth sneered. "It's amazing Shinra lasted so long with all the mistakes it made! This one has ensured my triumph. Don't worry, Matt. You will destroy your rival in time. And I will achieve what I set out to do!"  
Sephiroth chuckled evilly as he walked away with the crystal in his hand. He had 'forgotten' to tell Matt that even if he did kill Tai he would not live to enjoy his triumph very long. If all went well for him this time the Planet would burn and he would be reborn as a god….

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Default Chapter Title

****

Digimon: Final Reality

3: The Best of Enemies

Junon

It didn't take long for the Digidestined and their new-found friends to figure out something was wrong. The first clue was that the Gelnika was one hour overdue, and the Turk pilots had an annoying habit of always being on time. Reeve said as much to Barret as they went out to Junon's landing runway.

"You may be right," Barret had said. "But why are you still using those jackasses anyway?!"

Reeve felt uncomfortable. He knew Barret wasn't fond of the Turks and for damned good reason, they'd killed a lot of his friends during the war against Shinra.

"I haven't got much choice," Reeve had replied. "I'd rather have them working for me than against me."

Barret had muttered a curse under his breath but said nothing more.

"I can't believe how strong you all are!" Mimi said as they waited.

Cid chuckled. "You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till you see Cloud!"

"Cloud?" Sora wondered aloud.

"He was the leader of this sorry bunch a few months ago," Barret told her. "But we haven't seen a lot of him since then."

"And he's stronger than you?" TK could hardly wait.

"Without a doubt."

Reeve and Barret's worries became absolute certainties when the Gelnika landed and its passengers got out. Cloud and Tifa came out looking as though they'd been in a war: neither had bothered to heal themselves after their fight with MetalGarurumon. Tai, Izzy, Koromon and Tentomon, not looking in the best of spirits, followed them out.

"What happened?" Reeve asked as everyone rushed out to meet them.

"Where's Matt?" TK asked, suddenly realising he wasn't with them.

"What happened? An old friend turned up and all hell has just broken loose, that's what happened!" Cloud muttered. His mood had darkened considerably on the flight back.

"Old friend?" Red XIII had a bad feeling about this.

"Sephiroth…" Tifa finally said.

****

Reeve's office

An hour later Cloud and Tifa had finished their story. There was complete silence for a minute before anything was said.

"How is that £$%&$! Sephiroth back!?" Cid snarled. "The last time I saw him he kinda blew up!"

"Who is Sephiroth?" Joe asked, tired of being left out.

"A very dangerous and very evil person," Tifa said.

"He nearly destroyed the planet the last time we met him," Yuffie broke in.

"And now he's got Matt working for him," Tai said unhappily.

"And Gabumon," Koromon added. "I had to fight him…"

The Digidestined all exchanged horrified glances.

"So that's why Necromon sent us here…" Sora realised.

Tai nodded. "Somehow he must have known that this would happen."

"In that case, you'd better settle down for another long story," Cloud suggested. "Now that he has Matt he knows about all of you now. You'd best know about him."

Cloud and his team tried to explain everything. The Shinra corporation and its evil experiments, Mako energy, the Jenova organism and SOLDIER, the elite organisation which Sephiroth had headed a long time ago, Sephiroth's origins and his insane actions once he'd learned of them.

By the time they'd finished, Tai and the other Digidestined all had severe headaches.

"Oh man!" Tai muttered. "How did we get into this?" 

"So Sephiroth was good once?" Sora asked. "Is there any chance he could be again?"

"Not a hope!" Barret snorted.

"He's right. When he learned that he was genetically engineered he just completely flipped," Cid said.

"What I don't get is how he's back now," Vincent wondered. "If I remember right, he exploded at the Crater a few months back."

Cloud grimaced. "He did but he wasn't destroyed there. After he exploded he tried to get inside my head again and take me over completely. He failed. I beat him easily and threw him out. But he broke up into Lifestream energy. _Red _Lifestream energy."

Tifa began to catch on. "And when we saw him earlier he said the Lifestream ''found him indigestible'."

Cloud nodded. "That's right. If the Lifestream rejected him and he couldn't take me over…"

"You think he took over someone else?" Red XIII asked.

"It would explain a great deal," Cloud said.

"Is he powerful enough to do that?" Yuffie asked in amazement.

"Not on his own," Cloud said. "But with some of his Jenova powers still lingering, it's not impossible."

"So he's got an unlimited number of lives?" Cid groaned.

"No, probably not. With the Jenova organism smashed he can't use it again anytime soon. If we kill him this time it should be for good."

"How do we get Matt back?" TK asked worriedly. He was almost in tears.

"If I'm right, Sephiroth won't be able to hold on to Matt and Gabumon for very long," Cloud said gently. "He's probably straining himself and his powers by controlling them."  
"That's why he didn't fight us himself?" Tai broke in.

"I would think so. But we have to find them fast. Once Matt slips out of his control he'll be of no use to him any longer and when that happens…"

Everyone knew what he meant.

"Then we've got to find him!" Tai said, all fired up.

"Unfortunately we don't know where they are," Reeve said. "I can think of at least a dozen places where Sephiroth could establish a base, and that's only counting the places I know about."

"I hate to say this but we've got to let him make the first move," Cloud said. "It's probably the only way we're going to find him."

"What do you think he'll do?" Sora asked worriedly. 

Cloud looked around his entire group. All wore the same blank expression. No one had any idea.

****

Living quarters: Junon

Tai and the other Digidestined had all been given rooms in Junon's barracks for now. They'd been told to go and take a load off while everyone else searched for Matt, Gabumon and Sephiroth. 

"Man! And I thought our team was weird!" Tai couldn't believe the situation he'd landed himself in.

"A big guy with a gun-arm, a ninja, a guy with a sword and whatever that red wolf thing is," Joe said. "And these are the good guys?"  
"The red wolf certainly seems intelligent," Izzy said. "I've talked with him. He's more knowledgeable than most."

"One thing's for certain: everyone's much stronger here!" Tai said. "You should have seen what they did to MetalGarurumon!" 

"They beat him? No way!" TK couldn't believe it.

"Way! They didn't just beat him, they kicked his butt!" 

"What should we do now?" Sora asked. "We've got to get Matt back!"  
"And Gabumon," Koromon added. "I don't want to have to fight him again."

"There's not much we can do until we actually find him," Tai said. "But we'll get him back. Matt and that Sephiroth guy don't stand a chance. Not with all of us and all of those guys with us!"

"I hope you're right," Patamon said. He didn't want a miserable Digidestined partner for the rest of his life, which was what TK was going to be if he didn't get Matt back.

"Well, I'm going to go get some rest," Tai said, picking up Koromon and heading toward his room.

"Good idea," Mimi said. "All of this is giving me a headache!"

"Nothing new there then!" Tai muttered as he walked to his room.

"It's ok, Tai. We'll get them back," Koromon said.

"I hope so," Tai replied as he opened the door to his room. "Where are you, Matt?"

"I'm right here, Tai!" 

Tai gaped in shock as he opened the door to find Matt and Gabumon standing in his room.

"Matt! How…"

"Thought you'd seen the last of us, huh? Sorry to disappoint you but we like to finish what we start!"

"And so do I!" Tai whirled round to find Sephiroth standing behind him also.

"Sephiroth!"

"Tai, get back!" Koromon quickly leaped in front of Tai and digivolved back into Agumon form. "PEPPER BREATH!"

Sephiroth blocked the fireball out easily just as Kari and Gatomon walked in.

"Tai, do you want to…AHHH!"

"Kari, get help!" Tai screamed. 

Kari didn't need telling twice. She ran back down the hall with Gatomon covering her back.

"Noble but foolish!" Sephiroth sneered. "You just gave me the time I needed to do this!"

With that, he summoned up another blackening wave and teleported them all away…

****

Reeve's office

"What a crew!" Barret said after the Digidestined had left. "Some kids and a walking plant, a flying bug, a pink bird, a clawed cat and whatever it was that landed on my head."

"Appearances aren't everything, Barret," Cloud said calmly. "They have more power in them than it first seems."  
"Yeah so you told me," Barret had heard of the fight with MetalGarurumon. "Were they that tough?"  
"Not as tough as Sephiroth or a WEAPON but tough enough," Tifa said solemnly.

"Where are you, Sephiroth?" Cloud muttered, looking over at the map.

He was still gazing at it when Kari and Gatomon burst into the office screaming for help.

"Kari! What's wrong?" Tifa asked.

"Tai's in trouble!" Kari quickly filled them in.

Cloud's face darkened and he grabbed his Ultima blade. "This ends here!"   
"Leave some for me!" Barret quickly armed his Missing Score gun and ran after Cloud.

By the time they got to Tai's room it was too late. Sephiroth, Tai, Matt and their digimon had vanished.

"Damn!" Cloud quickly turned to Cid. "Is the Highwind II here?" Cid nodded. "Get it ready!"   
"Where are we going?" Tifa asked.

"We're going to search everywhere for them. I've had it with just sitting here." He turned to Kari again. "Kari, get the others and head to the runway. We're going to get them back, ok?"   
Kari nodded and ran from the room. 

"I'll go with her," Barret suggested.

"Good idea," Cloud said. "Don't let her or any of the others out of your sight! Sephiroth gets no more chances like this!"

"Got it!" Barret ran after Kari.

Cloud grimaced as he followed Barret. They'd have to be fast. Usually Sephiroth left nothing behind but corpses…

****

Mountain pass near Icicle Inn 

Tai and Agumon found themselves back in the frozen North facing off against Matt, Gabumon and Sephiroth.

Sephiroth grinned nastily. "Now, where were we?"

"I was just about to finish this!" Matt snarled.

"By all means," Sephiroth smiled. "I have some other business to take care of. I trust you can handle this alone?" 

As much as Sephiroth wanted to stay and watch this fight, he knew that it would not be wise. It would only be a matter of time before Cloud and the others found them and besides this wasn't an area he wanted to be standing on for very long… 

Matt nodded as Sephiroth teleported away again.

"I don't want to fight you, Matt," Tai said seriously.

"Sorry Tai. Only one of us walks away from this one!" Matt replied. "Gabumon!"

~Gabumon warp digivolve to…METALGARURUMON!~

~Agumon warp digivolve to…WARGREYMON!~

"All right, Matt," Tai said. "If you want me, give me your best shot!"

****

Highwind II

On the outside Cid's new airship didn't look much different from its predecessor. However it did have much more engine power than the first model, much to Yuffie's disgust. While she stayed down below, feeling greener than ever, everyone else was up on the bridge.

"Sorry Yuffie," Cid called back, not sounding very sorry at all. "We've got to get there as quick as possible, haven't we?" he chuckled as he said this.

"Where are we going now?" Sora asked.

"North again," Cloud replied. "We've just heard some reports of monsters battling near Icicle Inn over the radio. It's not much but it's the best lead we've had."

"I hope it's not them," Reeve said. "That area isn't too stable."  
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked worriedly.

"We've been reading a lot of seismic activity from there recently, along with several other places."  
"Lifestream?" Cloud asked.

"That's the assumption."  
"So they could be fighting on a place that's about to erupt? Damn, why didn't you say so?!" Cid reached for another lever and the ship suddenly seemed to double in speed.

"CID!!!" Yuffie wailed from down below somewhere.  
"Sorry Yuffie!" Cid called back.

"Let's hope we get there soon before the eggheads back there'll talk us all to death!" Barret muttered, looking back at Izzy and Red XIII, who were having a discussion of Materia and its uses.

"Prodigious! So this stuff can actually…"

"I know how you feel!" Tentomon said to Barret as he tuned Izzy out.

****

Mountain Pass

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"  
"TERRA FORCE!"

Neither Mega Digimon was getting the upper hand. They were too evenly matched. Their partners weren't doing any better. Matt had blood running from his mouth and Tai had several bruises from their fistfight, but there was no sign of either one backing down. **  
"**Give it up, Tai! You're not going to beat me! Give up and I'll make it quick!" Matt screamed.

"Fat chance!" Tai snarled and threw himself on top of Matt, wrestling him to the ground.

"There is no reason for us to fight!" WarGreymon said in desperation.

"Except that I want to!" MetalGarurumonreplied. "ICE WOLF CLAW!"  
WarGreymon sighed in despair as he dodged the ice blast. "METAL CLAW!"

All of them were so busy fighting they didn't notice the airship overhead.

"Man! They're really slugging it out!" Barret said.

"We've got to get down there. Try and find us a place to land, Cid," Cloud ordered.

"Got it!"

"It's too late!" Reeve screamed in horror.

He wasn't wrong. The ground was starting to split open, forming a large chasm in the earth. Matt and Tai didn't have time to run as it formed under them and they plunged into the bright green river that ran beneath.

"MATT!" MetalGarurumon flew down to help but he was far too late.

"TAI!" WarGreymon flew down alongside.

Overhead Cloud, Sora and the rest could do nothing but stare in shock.

Cloud was full of fury. "First Nibelheim, then Aeris, then Midgar and now Matt and Tai! GODDAMN YOU SEPHIROTH!" Cloud smashed his fists into the wall in a fit of rage.

"Take it easy!" Cid said. "They might still be alive and if they are, there's only one place they'll come out."

"Mideel," Tifa said. "The Lifestream flow comes out there."

"Right. Let's get there," Reeve said.

"Wait, what about them?" Sora asked, pointing down at Agumon and Gabumon below. Both had reverted back to their Rookie forms and seemed to have forgotten about fighting.

Cloud nodded. "Ok, we'll pick them up but watch Gabumon carefully, got it?"

As they started to descend, Cloud swore to himself that he would kill Sephiroth this time. He didn't rate Matt and Tai's chances. Many adults didn't survive Mako infusion, let alone kids. One way or another, Sephiroth was going to pay for this…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. Default Chapter Title

Author's note: Sorry it's been so long. But I've had to deal with 

    1. Severe writer's block
    2. A ton of work
    3. The fact that I'm moving house soon

As if that weren't bad enough I'll be off-line for 2 months after this because of the lack of an Internet connection! (Ugh!) But I won't keep Matt and Tai fans in suspense for all that time. So enjoy and please review!

****

Digimon: Final Reality

****

4: Forced Evolution

Mideel: 7 hours later

Sora had never felt so exhausted in her life and the others weren't looking much better. They'd spent the last 7 hours travelling by airship and worrying themselves sick about Tai and Matt in Mideel whilst trying to console a distraught Agumon and an even more distraught Gabumon. Gabumon was back to his normal self, as Cloud said he eventually would be. The shock of losing Matt had shaken him free of Sephiroth's control, which was practically the only bright spot in all of this. They'd arrived in Mideel, a small settlement that was unfortunately built right next to where the Lifestream broke to the surface, and had waited impatiently on the bank of the bright green lake for what seemed like years.

"Are you sure they're going to come out here?" she asked Cloud for about the fifth time.

Cloud sighed. "There's no other places that I know of where they could come out. If they don't come out here…" 

Sora got the hint and shut up. 

"You're being a bit hard," Tifa whispered to Cloud.

"What do you want me to do?" he hissed back. "Lie to them? Best they know and deal with it up front."

Tifa sighed and gave up. Cloud just wasn't strong on emotions. 

Their train of thought was then derailed by a loud shout from Yuffie. "I'VE FOUND THEM!"

Everyone ran to the side of the lake to see Matt and Tai floating facedown in the middle of it.

"MATT!" TK was about to run into the lake when Tifa stopped him.

"You go in that, TK, and you'll end up the same way as they are!"

"I'll get them," Cloud said as he was putting on a rocket pack. "I'm already infused with Mako so it won't affect me so much. Wish me luck!"

With that, Cloud switched on his rocket pack and flew out over the lake. With his strength, he had no problem lifting out Matt first and then Tai. Once back on the shore they were quickly put on stretchers and moved to the airship with TK, Kari, Agumon and Gabumon close behind.

Reeve, Barret, Cid and the other Digidestined were talking frantically with Mideel's doctor, who wasn't looking optimistic.

"I'll be blunt," he was saying. "Their chances aren't good. I mean they're both just 11 years old and they've both taken in enough Mako to power a city for a night!"

"We know all that, Doc," Cid replied. "But we still need you anyway."

"Ok, fine," the doctor sighed. "Just don't expect any miracles like last time. I'm still not sure quite how that happened!"

"Last time?" Izzy raised his eyebrows.

"Cloud fell into the Lifestream before," Red XIII told him. "He ended up in a coma but he recovered on his own."

"But I already had Mako in my system when it happened," Cloud added. "And even then I nearly didn't come back."

"So what can we do?" Joe asked miserably. 

"Not a lot except wait and hope," Tifa said.

As the others started to walk back to the airship Tifa, Cloud and Sora hung back a little.

"When I get my hands on that Sephiroth I'm going to..." Sora snarled.

"You'll have to stand in line," Cloud said coldly. "You're not the only one who wants his head."_ And my vendetta will be the one that comes first! _Cloud thought darkly.

****

A hidden underground Shinra base

The old base that Sephiroth had taken over had been one of Shinra Inc's newest and it was to have been the staging area for another of the company's evil plans. However, one of the researchers had got cold feet before the plan was to start and had stolen one of the key components: the crystal that Matt had found and that Sephiroth had now. Cloud and his friends had then destroyed Shinra before they could do anything about it. Sephiroth smiled coldly as he thought about that. By destroying Shinra, Cloud had removed another obstacle to Sephiroth's new plan. The only other obstacle was now floating somewhere in the Lifestream. It was a pity that he couldn't have destroyed the rest of these 'Digidestined' but with their leaders effectively eliminated he should have enough time to finish his plans. Still smiling coldly, he placed the crystal inside the huge machine at the base's lowest level. "Soon…very soon…"

****

Highwind II

Matt and Tai were now in beds in the Highwind II's medical bay. Agumon, Gabumon, Kari and TK were at their bedsides: they'd simply refused to leave. 

Everyone else was on the bridge trying to figure out what to do next.

"I've just been in touch with Reno in Junon," Reeve was saying. "Nothing to report from anywhere."  
"No trace of him?" Cloud was incredulous.

"Isn't that good news?" Joe asked.

"With Sephiroth, no. It means he's got something up his sleeve again and he'll be ready to do more damage soon."  
"As if he hadn't done enough already!" Mimi muttered.

"Is there nothing we can do for Matt and Tai?" Sora asked.

"Nothing. We'll just have to hope they recover on their own." The tone of Cloud's voice certainly didn't inspire much confidence.

"Might as well head back to Junon until we can figure what to do next," Cid decided.

"Can't we go to Cosmo Canyon instead?" Red XIII asked. "I need to see if everything's all right there and our new friends will probably like a change of scene."

Cid looked at Cloud, who shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me," he replied.

"Cosmo Canyon it is then."

****

Cosmo Canyon

"Prodigious! I think I could get to like this place!" Izzy said as he saw the space telescope on top of the settlement in Cosmo Canyon. It was a weird sight for the Digidestined. Cosmo Canyon was a settlement literally built into the canyon walls with a space observatory at its peak. 

"Yeah, we figured you'd like it," Barret said. He had a thing for Cosmo Canyon himself.

"We'll go stay at the inn for the night," Red XIII said. "Since I'm supposed to be the guardian of this place I think I can arrange it."

"Good!" Gomamon said. "Maybe we can get something to eat."

"Again?" Yuffie said. "Gawd, that's the third time. Do these guys do nothing but eat?" 

"Pretty much," Joe said. 

"Any luck?" Mimi asked Cloud as he brought up the rear.

"None," Cloud said grimly. "Short of knocking them out and dragging them away I don't think I can get them away."

TK, Kari, Agumon and Gabumon had stayed in the airship with Tai and Matt and had refused to move no matter what.

"Why don't you go on ahead?" Cloud said. "I'll go back and wait with them."

"I'll go with you," Tifa offered. "It's not as if I'll be missing anything here."

"We'll catch you up later," Cid said. "If there's any news, make sure you tell us."

****

Highwind II: medical bay

"It's all my fault!" Gabumon sighed for about the tenth time since he'd got back. He was still staring blankly at his comatose Digidestined partner.

"No, it isn't!" Cloud said forcefully as he entered. "The only one to blame is Sephiroth, who will pay dearly for this once I see him again. I'll see to that!"

"He's right, Gabumon," Kari added. "It wasn't really you who attacked us. We don't blame you!"

"I don't mean to be rude but can you take this outside?" the doctor asked. "Things are still at a delicate stage and I need my full concentration. If anything changes I promise you that you'll be the first to know."

Cloud nodded. He knew what the doctor meant. "Alright. Let's go get something to eat. We'll come back later, ok?"

It took a lot of convincing from Cloud and Tifa to get them to leave but they eventually gave in. 

"If anything happens, we can come right back," Tifa promised as they left.

In the end, they all ended up on the bridge.

"Shouldn't we join the others at Cosmo Canyon?" Tifa asked.

"No. It took everything we had just to get them out of the room. We'll never get them off the ship," Cloud replied.

As if to reinforce the point, Patamon and Gatomon soon joined them, having realised that TK and Kari weren't going to leave the ship and their brothers.

"How much longer is this going to last?" Tifa whispered to Cloud.

"We should know whether they'll pull through any time now, if my memories are accurate." Cloud winced as he remembered his own 'forced evolution'. A sudden thought then struck him. "I'd better call Reeve and ask him to…"  
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!"

"What was that?" Agumon asked, nearly choking on the food he'd been chewing on.

Gabumon and TK started running for the medical bay as soon as they heard the scream. They knew who it was. "MATT!"

****

Sephiroth's base

Sephiroth smiled coldly at the 3 chemical tanks in front of him. The life forms inside were growing well, thanks to the crystal's power and the Mako he had added to the tanks. This little side-show should distract Cloud and his friends for long enough so they wouldn't see his real plans; at least not until it was too late. Sephiroth looked inside the tanks again. The 'things' inside looked somewhat human but they were rapidly losing most of their human attributes, as their hands were becoming claws and their skin was hardening into reinforced carapace. 

"Soon Cloud. Soon we'll play by my rules again…"

****

Highwind II: medical bay

The medical bay was absolute pandemonium when everyone piled in. The doctor was struggling to hold down Matt who was screaming in agony.

"Matt!" Gabumon was frantic by now.

"Gabumon? Is that you? I can't see!" Matt replied through clenched teeth. He was in intense pain.

"Matt, I'm right here!" the wolf-like digimon was right in front of Matt, but Matt didn't seem to be focusing on anything.

"It's only temporary," Cloud tried to reassure him. "Your system's adjusting to the Mako you took in. Your sight will come back in time."

"Matt! Where does it hurt?" TK asked through tears.

"AAAAAGGGHHH!!! Everything! It feels like I'm burning up from inside!"  
"It's the Mako in his bloodstream," the doctor explained. "That should pass too in time."  
"IN TIME?!" Matt screamed. "I can't stand this!"

"Maybe we should…?" Tifa looked at the doctor.

"Be my guest!" the doctor replied.

In a glow of green, Cloud and Tifa both cast Sleepel attacks. Matt closed his eyes and slumped back onto the bed.

"Why didn't you just sedate him?" Cloud muttered, remembering the pain of his transformation.

"I was about to when he woke up," the doctor said apologetically. "I've sedated the other one already though. You won't get a repeat performance, I promise."

"All right. When should they wake up again?"

"If all goes well they'll be up in a few more hours. If all goes well, that is," the doctor emphasised.

Cloud nodded. "Ok, let's go." He led everyone outside again with a big grin on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" TK asked through tears.

"Because things are looking promising!" Cloud said. "I know it wasn't pretty to watch but the fact that he had that reaction means he'll probably live."

"You went through the same thing, right?" Tifa broke in.

"Yeah. Forced evolution. Painful as hell and I had painkillers when I was in the tanks too. I can only imagine what Matt is going through. Still, it means his system's accepted the Mako. It would have poisoned him by now if he hadn't."

"So, he's going to be alright?" TK was almost afraid to ask.

"I'd stake my life on it, TK."

"What about Tai?" Kari and Agumon asked together.

"Since he's still alive, probably the same."

"YES!!!" 

"Why don't you go back to the bridge and celebrate there?" Cloud suggested. "And eat something while you're at it. We'll be along soon."

Tifa waited until they were gone. "Was that the truth? Are you sure about that?"

"It's the truth as far as I know it," Cloud said. "They should be through the most dangerous stages by now."

"I hope you're right."  
"We'd best call Reeve and give him the good news. We'll have to wait for them to wake up before we can do much else anyway."

****

Medical bay: 5 hours later

"Urrrghhh…" Matt had woken up with a real bad hangover or something akin to a hangover, but at least the searing pain he had felt before was gone. He didn't know if he could have stood much more of that. As he climbed out of bed slowly he suddenly remembered all that had happened and that he was free! He could move and think for himself again, something he hadn't been able to do since his encounter with Sephiroth on the ice fields. He was wondering what to do next when he saw Tai in the bed next to him.

"Tai! Are you ok?" Matt rushed over to him quickly but Tai was still out cold. Matt's face contorted in rage. Sephiroth had played him like a puppet and now Tai was…! "Tai! Wake up!"

"Ohhh…Matt? Is that you? You're back to normal, right?" Tai asked hopefully. He didn't feel like picking up where they'd left off.

As Tai opened his eyes Matt lurched back in surprise at what he saw. Tai's eyes were glowing! Not only that but his muscles seemed to have doubled in size!

"Don't worry, I'm me again but what happened to you? Have you been working out or something?! And what's with the eyes?"

"Like you can talk, Matt! Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Matt hadn't of course. If he had he would have seen that his eyes were now a shining bright blue and he had put on considerable weight as well.

"Uh oh. I was afraid this would happen!"

Matt and Tai turned to see Cloud, Tifa, TK, Kari and their digimon staring at them in shock.

"Wha…have they digivolved?" Agumon managed to blurt out.

"What's happened to them?" Kari spluttered.

"Yeah, can someone fill me in here?" Matt asked, looking at himself in a mirror on the wall. "We look like we've been on steroids!"

"I'll explain everything when we meet up with the others," Cloud said, grinning. "I don't want to have to explain all of this twice. But simply put, you've got a lot more power now and I think Sephiroth is going to regret what he's done to you two!"

"Sephiroth!" Matt snarled. "Where is he?" 

"We're not sure yet," Tifa said.

"Well, let's go find the others. My fist has got his name on it!" Tai growled.

"I missed you, Matt!" TK hugged Matt around his waist.

Matt returned the hug forcefully. "It's good to be back, TK." 

"Mmmph, Matt, you're crushing me!" TK groaned as he tried to wriggle out of Matt's grip.

"Sorry!" Matt had forgotten about his new strength.

At this, Cloud's grin grew even wider._ Sephiroth, you have just made your last mistake. I'm going to enjoy helping these two to beat you to a bloody pulp! _

TO BE CONTINUED…

  
Author's 2nd note: As I said before I'll be off-line for awhile until I get a new house with another Internet link (grrr!). Sorry about that. But I will be back sooner or later to finish this fic. To answer your review questions:

    1. Psychodigiman: this is a crossover of Digimon and Final Fantasy VII (I know it's kinda confusing if you haven't played that game.)
    2. No, I don't think I can bring the Predators into this. Not in this fic anyway. The next one perhaps. But you'll have to settle for Mega Tai and Mega Matt until then, sorry!

I'll be back on-line ASAP!

Scorpion

****


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